Minnesota Crookston Equestrian Has Strong Rides but Falls 14-2 to Delaware State and 13-1 to South Dakota State
BROOKINGS, S.D. – The University of Minnesota Crookston equestrian team competed in a pair of NCEA meets this weekend at DeHaan Equestrian Center in Brookings, S.D. The Golden Eagles were defeated 14-2 by Delaware State University and 13-1 by South Dakota State University. Minnesota Crookston was led by Julianna Gullo (Fr., Itasca, Ill.) earning a Most Outstanding Performance (MOP) in fences against the Hornets.
Minnesota Crookston fell to 0-8 in NCEA meets this season. They are done with regular-season NCEA meets for the 2023 season. South Dakota State improved to 3-6 with wins this weekend of the Golden Eagles and Delaware State. The Hornets improved to 4-5 with the win.
Against South Dakota State, Minnesota Crookston was guided by a win in reining from Ashlyn Montague (Fr., Draper, Utah). She defeated Adisyn Kuxhaus, 69.5-69 on Lash. Olivia Becker (Sr., Deer Park, Wis.) earned a tie (73-73) on GW against Grace Blake. Minnesota Crookston was very competitive in horsemanship overall. Belle Sand (So., Spicer, Minn.) was edged 74.5-72 on Marshal against Callyn Fox. Rebecca Clark (Sr., Austin, Minn.) was slightly edged (72-71) on Ruby against Annika Hanson. Montague was also slightly edged by Shelby Cochran on Merlin, 74.5-72.
Keira Boedigheimer (So., Colorado Springs, Colo.) earned a tie in flat against Mikaela Haskins on Deli, 77-77. Julianna Gullo (Fr., Itasca, Ill.) had a great flat ride on Ozzie, earning an 80, but she fell to Hannah Steele, who had an 85. Gullo also had a strong ride in fences, but she was edged 72-70 on Eddie by Samantha Hunsecker.
Versus Delaware State, Boedigheimer picked up a point in fences on Eddie against Maranda McCarthy. Gullo earned the MOP in flat, defeating Megan Pratt on Elliot, 83-78. The Golden Eagles put together solid rides in flat, but Alex Pfaffenbach (Jr., Appleton, Wis.), Josie Mills (So., Brandon, S.D.), Boedigheimer, and Gullo, were all edged by six points or less.
In horsemanship, Sand, Becker, and Montague all had solid rides, but were edged by six or less points in reining, Clark was edged slightly, 68.5-66.5, by Abbey Craver.
Minnesota Crookston returns to IHSA action March 4 and 5 with a home show at the Charles H. Casey Equine Arena.
—
